This afternoon MPs are paying tribute to Sir David Amess, the long-serving parliamentarian who was murdered on Friday. It began with a minute’s silence, impeccably observed, in a chamber packed with members from across the House.
The Speaker of the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, told MPs that he was ‘sorry the House is returning in such tragic circumstances’ and said ‘we have lost two outstanding friends and colleagues’ after Sir David and his colleague James Brokenshire both died last week.
He added that MPs ‘will share my deep sadness at their loss’ and will send their ‘heartfelt condolences’ to their families. The circumstances of Sir David’s death were despicable, he said, and continued that MPs will pay tribute for Brokenshire, who died of lung cancer at the age of 53, separately on Wednesday.
Subsequent tributes were paid by Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer. The Prime Minister received a burst of spontaneous applause after a well-delivered speech in which he announced that Southend will become a city, in honour of the long-running campaign by Sir David to achieve this status for his seat.
Starmer meanwhile told the House that: ‘I spoke to Jo Cox’s parents on Friday afternoon because I knew they would be reliving that awful day. They said to me they were thinking of David’s family and how their lives would be changed forever.’
But the tribute of the day was paid by Tory backbencher Mark Francois, who served as the election agent for Sir David Amess at the 1992 election when his triumph in Basildon signalled that John Major would be returned to Downing Street. Francois, standing next to an empty seat where Sir David used to sit, called him simply ‘the best bloke I ever knew’ and that ‘he was the best potential Father of the House we will now never have.’ You can watch it in full below.
Comments